WND EXCLUSIVE

Secession madness! Now 40 states join petition fray

More than a half-million want their states out of the USA

Drew Zahn covers movies for WND as a contributing writer. A former pastor, he is the editor of seven books, including Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, which sparked his ongoing love affair with film and his weekly WND column, "Popcorn and a (world)view." Drew currently serves as communications director for The Family Leader.

If any of the hundreds of thousands of people petitioning the White House in the blossoming battle over secession get their way, somebody is going to leave the union, either voluntarily … or involuntarily.

Ever since WND first reported that residents in the state of Louisiana had filed an online petition with the White House to secede from the U.S., residents in at least 39 additional states have filed similar requests with the White House to peaceably break from the union.

The Texas petition, for example, has more than 80,000 signatures. The original Louisiana petition has topped 30,000. Florida has also crossed the threshold. Though the numbers keep climbing, the signatures for all 40 states now total at least 533,000.

The two petitions calling for the secession-sympathizers to be ousted total just more than 10,000.

The original Louisiana petition, which has served as a pattern for many of the new states, reads as follows: “We petition the Obama administration to: Peacefully grant the State of Louisiana to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government.”

It continues, “As the Founding Fathers of the United States of America made clear in the Declaration of Independence in 1776: ‘When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.'”

The petition concludes with a further quote from the Declaration of Independence: “‘Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government.'”

Screen capture of White House petition page for Louisiana secession

Residents of other states, however, have chosen different wording.

The Texas petition explains itself this way: “The U.S. continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government’s neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending. The citizens of the U.S. suffer from blatant abuses of their rights such as the NDAA, the TSA, etc. Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect it’s citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our Founding Fathers, which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.”

A petitioner from Tillamook, Ore., identified by the site as Kristopher W, worded his state’s petition this way: “Allow Oregon to vote on and leave the union peacefully and remain an ally to the nation.”

He continues, “With the federal government increasing its size much larger than our Founding Father’s intended, and its abuse of power trumping over the rights of state constitutions, and the forcing of unconstitutional laws over its own citizens, the people of Oregon would like the chance to vote on leaving the Union immediately. The federal government has imposed policies on Oregon that are not in Oregon’s best interests, and we as citizens would respectively and peaceably separate ourselves from a tyrannical government who cares nothing about creating a sustainable future for our children. At any time that the citizens of Oregon [should feel] the federal government was no longer imposing on the Constitution, we could re-vote to again join the union under a new agreement.”

One of the contrary petitions reads this way: “Strip the Citizenship from Everyone who Signed a Petition to Secede and Exile Them.”

It continues, “Mr. President, please sign an executive order such that each American citizen who signed a petition from any state to secede from the USA shall have their citizenship stripped and be peacefully deported.”

The White House created the “We the People” petition site ostensibly as a way of giving all Americans “a way to engage their government on the issues that matter to them.”

“The right to petition your government is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the page reads. “We the People provides a new way to petition the Obama Administration to take action on a range of important issues facing our country. We created We the People because we want to hear from you. If a petition gets enough support, White House staff will review it, ensure it’s sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response.”

The page also explains, “You have just 30 days to get 25,000 signatures in order to get a response from the White House.”

Once the White House does draft a response, it has pledged to send it via email to everyone who has signed the petition (registration on the site with a valid email address is required to sign petitions).